2020 Pats: You Cam Go Your Own Way

DourDoerr

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Not worth using any of his leverage to obtain. The Pats aren’t going to sign up for a $34 million cap hit for Newton in 2021. And no one’s going to agree to a tag-and-trade without a deal with Newton in place. Better to use whatever leverage he had to push for richer incentives.
I think you're probably right, but it'd be negligent for Newton's agent to not ask for the tag to be off limits. It's interesting to me that BB has kept this option open and, while it's unlikely, BB can now sign CN to a franchise tag if he wants and - if he thinks it'll make the team better - I believe within reason (i.e. plenty of cap space) he'll do it.
 

mauf

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I think you're probably right, but it'd be negligent for Newton's agent to not ask for the tag to be off limits. It's interesting to me that BB has kept this option open and, while it's unlikely, BB can now sign CN to a franchise tag if he wants and - if he thinks it'll make the team better - I believe within reason (i.e. plenty of cap space) he'll do it.
I’m guessing the agent did ask, but that it was one of the first demands he dropped.
 

BigJimEd

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Yes they should have plenty of cap space available next year.
It might be more semantics but saying $34 million tied up in one player just seems a bit misleading and obscures the reality of the discussion. $7 million is hitting their cap. Doesn't matter if they paid it to Newton, McCourty or anyone else. The only question is if Cam will be worth it to the Patriots at the tag number. Their overall cap space is a factor in answering that of course just like any significant salary negotiation. But how they spend that is largely immaterial at that point.

I do agree that in that scenario the Patriots (and Newton) would likely prefer a long term deal anyway. And Pats fans can only hope we are having this discussion next off season.
 

mauf

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They have like $90M in cap space next year before any other moves or manipulations. If he plays like old Cam, they'll find a way.
That assumes escalation in the cap, which is unlikely.

The Pats have $126 million in contracts for 2021, against a cap that’s likely to dip below $200 million. And free agency will be a buyer’s market, with fewer dollars to chase the usual number of players. But the QB franchise tag amount isn’t likely to decline materially, with most of the league’s top veteran QBs signed into 2021. (I wouldn’t be surprised if it even goes up.)

It’s not a problem — if the Pats want Cam and he wants to be here, they’ll work out a long-term deal. I just think the ability to tag him isn’t worth much, as it would be perceived as an empty threat in the course of negotiations over that long-term deal.

Edit: Some info on how the franchise tag is computed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise_tag
Since the non-exclusive tag is calculated based on a backward-looking, 5-year average of salaries, the 2021 tag amount is likely to be higher than the 2020 number. If the cap number dips due to COVID-related revenue losses (and it’s far from clear that it will), that won’t hit before 2022.
 
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SeoulSoxFan

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No, Tom. You dont get to breakup with Jules, and then get jealous when he gets another hot girlfriend.
Seriously, I love Tom, but this was the first time since he’s been gone that I really was offput and wanted him to shut the fuck up.
I wish Jules had replied "Who dis? New number"
Per Reddit:



P.S. Oh, this year's going to be so fuuuun (except for the pandemic thing but every football helmet has that Bane looking mask-thingy so we're good).
 

nighthob

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Signing Fitz for his age 40 season is going to be like hooking up with your high school crush at the 25 year reunion - awesome.
Between all the smoking and drinking he looked pretty awful at the 25th reunion. A soft no for me.
 

mauf

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A bad precedent such as bargaining away a franchise tag?
Yes. If you’re going to give up that lever, you want it to be a major concession, not something you do as a matter of course. BB probably wouldn’t have let this deal fall apart over it, but I’ll bet he cared more than Cam’s agent, even if BB has zero intention of tagging Cam under any circumstances.
 

DourDoerr

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Yes. If you’re going to give up that lever, you want it to be a major concession, not something you do as a matter of course. BB probably wouldn’t have let this deal fall apart over it, but I’ll bet he cared more than Cam’s agent, even if BB has zero intention of tagging Cam under any circumstances.
I don't think anyone is suggesting bargaining away the franchise chip would be a matter of course. I think it's correct that in this instance, with this leverage, BB cared more about that chip than CN's agent and was able to keep it. And, potentially, use it.
 

BaseballJones

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To me, the only downside is if he leads the Patriots to a mediocre record, which doesn't help in terms of playoffs and doesn't help in terms of draft picks, while slowing the development of Stidham, and then they let Cam go and it costs them a year of Stidham control and development, while not finding any more out about how good Stidham can be.

And there's definitely a legit chance of this happening.

But the potential upside is way better: Cam plays great (maybe not like his MVP season, but he's certainly capable of being great) and the Pats rip off another 12 win season and go deep into the playoffs. And he learns how to stay healthy and maybe the Pats have a star QB for another 4-5 years if they re-sign him. Or they let him go, recoup a 3rd round pick, and then Stidham steps in in 2021 and turns out to be good.

And the other possibility is that Cam stinks or gets hurt, and it costs them almost nothing, and maybe Stidham gets playing time and learns in real games and they get a look and see what they have moving forward. In this case, the opportunity cost is practically nil.
 

OurF'ingCity

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To me, the only downside is if he leads the Patriots to a mediocre record, which doesn't help in terms of playoffs and doesn't help in terms of draft picks, while slowing the development of Stidham, and then they let Cam go and it costs them a year of Stidham control and development, while not finding any more out about how good Stidham can be.
I see comments like this a lot, not just with regard to Stidham but I recall people saying similar things about Jimmy G, but I think this heavily underestimates how much the team knows about "how good Stidham can be." Obviously there is no perfect substitution for in-game performance, but if, for example, Stidham is struggling in practice, or doesn't seem to be improving on whatever benchmarks he set in practice last year, then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce he'll struggle in an actual game too. And if he's dominating in practice, sure, I guess he could just wilt in the limelight but for somebody who played in numerous high-stress games in the SEC I'm guessing that's only a minor concern. The Pats seemed to have a pretty good sense of Jimmy G's talent and value well before he started a regular season game.

And this echoes a post I made earlier but I don't think having another year of Stidham backing up a former MVP QB (if that's what ultimately happens) is a wasted year development wise.

As for mediocre record, many others have already noted that Belichick just doesn't seem like the "tanking" type regardless. I don't see him making personnel decisions thinking "well, this might make us slightly better but might also hurt our draft picks if we don't make the playoffs."
 

tims4wins

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I see comments like this a lot, not just with regard to Stidham but I recall people saying similar things about Jimmy G, but I think this heavily underestimates how much the team knows about "how good Stidham can be." Obviously there is no perfect substitution for in-game performance, but if, for example, Stidham is struggling in practice, or doesn't seem to be improving on whatever benchmarks he set in practice last year, then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce he'll struggle in an actual game too. And if he's dominating in practice, sure, I guess he could just wilt in the limelight but for somebody who played in numerous high-stress games in the SEC I'm guessing that's only a minor concern. The Pats seemed to have a pretty good sense of Jimmy G's talent and value well before he started a regular season game.

And this echoes a post I made earlier but I don't think having another year of Stidham backing up a former MVP QB (if that's what ultimately happens) is a wasted year development wise.

As for mediocre record, many others have already noted that Belichick just doesn't seem like the "tanking" type regardless. I don't see him making personnel decisions thinking "well, this might make us slightly better but might also hurt our draft picks if we don't make the playoffs."
It's like something Parcells used to say, nothing good comes from losing, something like that. BB will seek to maximize the wins. Maybe that only makes the Pats a 6 or 8 win team or something like that. But he's not going to just "settle" for 4 wins when he thinks he could win 6.
 

RetractableRoof

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I always laugh at these things... how would an opposing head coach know what the Patriots think about Stidham vs. Cam internally? Do we think Bill and Josh call up and chat about how they see Stidham?
Didn't one of the AFC head coaches work in Foxboro for a bit? He might have an inkling.
 

DJnVa

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Yeah, I would assume that's Flores and he knows that Pats like Stidham.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I always laugh at these things... how would an opposing head coach know what the Patriots think about Stidham vs. Cam internally? Do we think Bill and Josh call up and chat about how they see Stidham?
Probably not obviously, but I'm sure there's ways to tell. Maybe someone was desperately trying to get them to trade up for a QB in the draft and they declined; maybe an explayer (2 or 3 ended up on the Dolphins right?); maybe the other coaches can tell easily when BB is blowing smoke or when he lights up about a guy.; workouts, joint practices, etc. Not to the extent of a one on one comparison vs Newton, but they can probably get a feeling. Maybe it's flat out not as clandestine as we assume it is and they do talk to each other (ie small fraternity, may work together someday, etc). That said, I agree it's probably worded a little strong.
 

BaseballJones

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Anecdote here: It warmed my heart yesterday to talk with a friend of mine who's a big Eagles fan. Naturally, we discussed Newton. He is livid. He was like, "You've got to be kidding me. How can the Patriots lose Tom Brady, and end up getting another great quarterback for virtually nothing? Only the Patriots. Makes me sick."

:redwine:
 

DourDoerr

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"...only the Patriots. Makes me sick."
11 year old me is extremely confused. Do you mean the Cowboys?

That's fantastic. I'd like to call my Steelers' friend for his take on Newton - as I think it'd be just as sweet - but don't want to spend the time then arguing over the latest fine/draft pick loss.
 
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DeadlySplitter

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that's weird reporting as far as covering your source. "AFC East head coach" limits it to 3 people, and it doesn't take much legwork to realize it's Flores. why not just "NFL head coach"?
 

Cotillion

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A lot of those probably NLTBE (Cause they are based off of the previous years metrics) so they hit next years cap.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I suppose a long term deal is not 100% out of the question, but I still think the real "deal" here is that the Pats get Newton for 1 year for cheap, and Cam gets to rebuild enough value for one last big contract, somewhere else.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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I'm pretty sure that roster bonuses, even if they otherwise would be NLTBE because say the player only played 2 games in the prior season, are always credited on the current year's cap not the next.

So unless Cam is cut the Patriots have tacked on to the running ledger of amounts they are going to need before the start of the season just to get through the year. They are probably going to need upwards of $2 million before the rule of 51 is lifted in early September (or maybe it's mid-September now) and probably at least $6 million or so to get through the year.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I suppose a long term deal is not 100% out of the question, but I still think the real "deal" here is that the Pats get Newton for 1 year for cheap, and Cam gets to rebuild enough value for one last big contract, somewhere else.
I've swung from "meh" to :banana: on the move over the course of this week and partly its because I've come around to the idea that there might be real long term upside here.

A lot has to go right for the Patriots to want to extend Cam long term for big dollars but if things do go right, he is a guy that you should be happy to pay $30m a year in his early 30s as long as you have the salary cap space (which we do going forward). I wouldn't bet on it happening but a Pats rebuild on the fly during Cam's age 31-34 seasons that keeps them competing at a very high level seems like a legitimate possible outcome.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I've swung from "meh" to :banana: on the move over the course of this week and partly its because I've come around to the idea that there might be real long term upside here.

A lot has to go right for the Patriots to want to extend Cam long term for big dollars but if things do go right, he is a guy that you should be happy to pay $30m a year in his early 30s as long as you have the salary cap space (which we do going forward). I wouldn't bet on it happening but a Pats rebuild on the fly during Cam's age 31-34 seasons that keeps them competing at a very high level seems like a legitimate possible outcome.
I share your excitement about the potential upside here, but I am very skeptical that this will end up being a long term thing.

Of course if he is not healthy, this move isn't going to work out, but it was still a nice low-risk, high-reward move.

If he is healthy, he'll be very good. He's playing for tens of millions of dollars here (though not from the Pats), so he'll come in very motivated to do what he needs to do to be able to cash in next year. Bedard has a couple of great articles on Newton:

One discussing his 2018 season (based on reviewing an NFL films production about the season) in which Bedard notes that he was playing like an MVP caliber guy, on and off the field, until his shoulder was wrecked.
Takeaways:

1. Newton was playing really good football the first eight weeks, and his coaches were excited about where he was going.
2. Newton relished playing the role of mentor and leader to his younger teammates.
3. During the Black Lives Matter movement, Newton was focused on the team.
4. Newton’s shoulder was completely shot after TJ Watt’s hit on him in Week 10.


There was a lot more that I liked in terms of Newton’s demeanor and how he enjoyed himself when times called for that, but he was also serious when that was needed as well.

I know this was NFL Films, but I came away feeling a lot better with Newton as a teammate and team leader than what I had heard about him earlier in his career.
And another on some fixable issues in his game that would hold him back with the Pats.
There’s a lot to like there and for Josh McDaniels to work with. But for this to truly work, Newton’s going to have to take hard coaching (there have been doubts how much he’s received or taken in that area for many years) and tighten up his game.

These are the four not-so-obvious areas Newton will have to tighten up:

1. Play-action fakes.

To be blunt, Newton is one of the worst NFL quarterbacks when it comes to selling play-action fakes on a consistent basis. Are all of them terrible? No. Does his athletic ability almost act as a playfake by itself? Yes.

2. Throwing in the rhythm of the offense.

A lot of people will worry about Newton’s lack of touch (and he really is a one-speed thrower but that can be coached around) on his passes. I’m not worried about that. One thing I am worried about is Newton’s ability to throw within the designed timing of the offense.

3. Tempo.

This is more of a feel thing, but I’ve seen the Panthers in training camp and I’ve studied him in person and on film. Everything. Takes. So. Long. He breaks the huddle late, everyone walks to their spot, Newton surveys the field, takes the whole playclock and then finally snaps the ball.

Maybe that’s by design, a ball-control thing. Maybe the Patriots will want to shrink the game like that. I don’t know. What I do know is the Patriots have traditionally wanted to up their play count as much as possible — the more offensive plays you have, the better indicator it is for a win. At times, Newton appears to be on his own clock, and it’s very pedantic.

4. Mechanics.

This is an area where he’s struggled over the years. Newton has sloppy footwork and will often throw off his back foot and rely on his rocket arm. That works sometimes, but not all the time. Below is an example I had clipped from a few years back where if Newton drove the ball more, it might have been a touchdown.

The good news with all of this is that it’s really just clean-up stuff that can be accomplished if Newton is willing to take the coaching. And considering how well he performed (over 68 percent completions) in his one season with Norv Turner — a traditional dropback scheme similar to the Patriots — that’s a great indication that this could go well.
He'll come in highly motivated so I'd expect progress on all fronts.

The downside, to the extent there is one, is that I really don't see him coming back. Either the health will be an issue and he won't be worth bringing back, or he'll cash in with offers far greater than anything the Pats would come up with. Maybe they can franchise him and dish him off for a first.
 

McBride11

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I thought there was a SB LI (Falcons) rewatch thread, but I could not find it.

But goddam I love this game. Forgot how, even while being down the Pats 1st half offense performed fine, but with 2 TO deep in Falcons territory.

Also - what is the more iconic NE sports scoreboard - 0-3 or 3-28

edit - love the direct snap redux to White! (also yes I had a few bevvies today).
 
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Royal Reader

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I found myself wondering if Cam might be willing to take less than top end starter money to have a shot at a ring if he performs well this coming season but falls short.

The term that came into my head was "Mike Glennon money." Which reminded me that the underrated part of the Trubisky trade up was that they spent $15m on Glennon, meaning they didn't even really benefit that much from Trubisky being cheap. I guess any time you can drop $20m and multiple draft picks to have a QB room of Glennon and Trubisky, you gotta do it.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I'm pretty sure that roster bonuses, even if they otherwise would be NLTBE because say the player only played 2 games in the prior season, are always credited on the current year's cap not the next.

So unless Cam is cut the Patriots have tacked on to the running ledger of amounts they are going to need before the start of the season just to get through the year. They are probably going to need upwards of $2 million before the rule of 51 is lifted in early September (or maybe it's mid-September now) and probably at least $6 million or so to get through the year.
You're correct; roster bonuses count in the year they are paid: https://russellstreetreport.com/salarycap/nfl-salary-cap-faqs/
 

DavidTai

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You're correct; roster bonuses count in the year they are paid: https://russellstreetreport.com/salarycap/nfl-salary-cap-faqs/
https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/how-cam-newtons-75-million-contract-fits-under-patriots-salary-cap

If I understand this correctly, that means -two- games of pre-roster bonuses count, because he played two games (which then falls under 'likely to be earned'), while any more than 2 games of pre-roster bonuses DON'T count against the cap because they're considered NLTBE.

So that basically means two games of preroster bonus plus his base salary is his cap impact for the year 2020. (That is, you need to count bonuses that -are- likely to be earned against this year's cap).

Which means, practically, this year, Cam Newton will cost 1.1375 million against the cap for 2020. They'd need to clear a bit more breathing room when spring training comes, but the amount of maneuvering they will have to do to clear room is not going to be that much. They'd probably cut an expensive OT backup who makes 2 million and replace him with a rookie free agent who makes like 125K and that'd be about it.

For 2021, the remaining per-game roster bonuses and any other NLTBE incentives hit then.

So, the roster bonus impact is technically correct, but badly applied to cover all the roster bonuses instead of just the 'likely to be earned' roster bonuses, and why pretty much almost every source indicates the Patriots' 2020 cap impact is around 1.15 million.
 
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wade boggs chicken dinner

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https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/how-cam-newtons-75-million-contract-fits-under-patriots-salary-cap

If I understand this correctly, that means -two- games of pre-roster bonuses count, because he played two games (which then falls under 'likely to be earned'), while any more than 2 games of pre-roster bonuses DON'T count against the cap because they're considered NLTBE.

So that basically means two games of preroster bonus plus his base salary is his cap impact for the year 2020. (That is, you need to count bonuses that -are- likely to be earned against this year's cap).

Which means, practically, this year, Cam Newton will cost 1.1375 million against the cap for 2020. They'd need to clear a bit more breathing room when spring training comes, but the amount of maneuvering they will have to do to clear room is not going to be that much. They'd probably cut an expensive OT backup who makes 2 million and replace him with a rookie free agent who makes like 125K and that'd be about it.

For 2021, the remaining per-game roster bonuses and any other NLTBE incentives hit then.

So, the roster bonus impact is technically correct, but badly applied to cover all the roster bonuses instead of just the 'likely to be earned' roster bonuses, and why pretty much almost every source indicates the Patriots' 2020 cap impact is around 1.15 million.
I think your reading of the article is correct and that roster bonuses beyond the games Newton played are NLTBE and don't immediately count against the cap. (I didn't know that so I've learned onre thing new today).

However, with regard to the other part, I found three other articles that says that any roster bonuses that are actually paid count against the current year's cap. See

http://salarycapcrunch.com/cba-salary-cap-qa/part-iii-nfl-salary-cap-accounting-rules/: "Conversely, if a player is on the roster beyond the assumed 10 games, the bonuses earned are immediately charged to the current year’s salary cap. "

https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2017/11/01/tracking-patriots-contract-incentives-week-8/: "Earned NTLBE incentives: Forty-six man active roster bonuses count against current year's cap. All other earned NLBTE incentives count as a debit against next year's cap."

https://texanscap.com/faqs/: "Now the confusing part, NLTBE roster bonus incentives count immediately towards the current salary cap. The team must ensure they have enough salary cap space to account for this during the season."

I will be interested in seeing which is correct.
 

Spelunker

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I think your reading of the article is correct and that roster bonuses beyond the games Newton played are NLTBE and don't immediately count against the cap. (I didn't know that so I've learned onre thing new today).

However, with regard to the other part, I found three other articles that says that any roster bonuses that are actually paid count against the current year's cap. See

http://salarycapcrunch.com/cba-salary-cap-qa/part-iii-nfl-salary-cap-accounting-rules/: "Conversely, if a player is on the roster beyond the assumed 10 games, the bonuses earned are immediately charged to the current year’s salary cap. "

https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2017/11/01/tracking-patriots-contract-incentives-week-8/: "Earned NTLBE incentives: Forty-six man active roster bonuses count against current year's cap. All other earned NLBTE incentives count as a debit against next year's cap."

https://texanscap.com/faqs/: "Now the confusing part, NLTBE roster bonus incentives count immediately towards the current salary cap. The team must ensure they have enough salary cap space to account for this during the season."

I will be interested in seeing which is correct.
Isn't the article pretty clear that roster bonuses are the only NLTBE payments that impact the current year?

"The rest of those per-game roster bonuses are considered NLTBE but will count against the cap with each game he plays. So if he plays in all 16 games, by the end of the 2020 season, his cap number will be $1.75 million. Active roster bonuses are the only earned NLTBE incentives that hit a current year's cap, Benzan relayed. "

That is, the quoted article is in agreement with the other ones cited.

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding the point.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Isn't the article pretty clear that roster bonuses are the only NLTBE payments that impact the current year?

"The rest of those per-game roster bonuses are considered NLTBE but will count against the cap with each game he plays. So if he plays in all 16 games, by the end of the 2020 season, his cap number will be $1.75 million. Active roster bonuses are the only earned NLTBE incentives that hit a current year's cap, Benzan relayed. "

That is, the quoted article is in agreement with the other ones cited.

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding the point.
I believe you are correct.
 

DavidTai

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Isn't the article pretty clear that roster bonuses are the only NLTBE payments that impact the current year?

"The rest of those per-game roster bonuses are considered NLTBE but will count against the cap with each game he plays. So if he plays in all 16 games, by the end of the 2020 season, his cap number will be $1.75 million. Active roster bonuses are the only earned NLTBE incentives that hit a current year's cap, Benzan relayed. "

That is, the quoted article is in agreement with the other ones cited.

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding the point.
I think you're right - I didn't grasp that point myself either. So basically after the first two games, Newton counts a little more on the cap afterwards? So he might well play two games, then the Patriots have to decide if they want to clear more salary cap per game he plays?

If he's starting at 1.1375 million (which includes 2 games that are LTBE) and ends at 1.75 million if he hits all sixteen games, we're looking at 612.5K of salary room they would have to account for during the season... or 4.375 thousand a game after the first 2 games

Honestly, that doesn't sound like much to clear. If he makes the team, I doubt they cut him because 612.5K isn't -that- much savings.

And I guess they already cleared the room, since Rex Burkhead's renegotiated contract just saved them 981K in cap space. Now they just need to clear a bit more for in-season moves.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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I think you're right - I didn't grasp that point myself either. So basically after the first two games, Newton counts a little more on the cap afterwards? So he might well play two games, then the Patriots have to decide if they want to clear more salary cap per game he plays?

If he's starting at 1.1375 million (which includes 2 games that are LTBE) and ends at 1.75 million if he hits all sixteen games, we're looking at 612.5K of salary room they would have to account for during the season... or 4.375 thousand a game after the first 2 games

Honestly, that doesn't sound like much to clear. If he makes the team, I doubt they cut him because 612.5K isn't -that- much savings.

And I guess they already cleared the room, since Rex Burkhead's renegotiated contract just saved them 981K in cap space. Now they just need to clear a bit more for in-season moves.
The Chung and Burkhead moves have been interesting. It seems like the Patriots at this point are content to do the little moves as they need the space instead of doing one big move. They probably have a few more of these little deals circled that they can do as and when they need to do them. Timing on Burkhead is interesting. They really didn't need the money immediately unless they have another move in the works that will become clear in the next couple of days.

The elephant in the room is Thuney. If they resolve his situation they will basically be pretty close to what they need to get through the season, give or take. But if that's not resolved they still have a long way to go. They don't even really have enough space at the moment to contend with the change over from rule of 51 to a 53 man roster in September, let alone tacking on practice squad salaries and having the reserves they need to make the various moves teams need to make in season. They still probably need another $4 to $5 million conservatively and I'm not sure there are enough candidates to do little moves like Chung and Burkhead to get them there.
 

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I wanted to pipe in a little thank you to those of you who are working through the salary cap implications so that I (among others I assume) can understand them a bit better.
 

DavidTai

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The elephant in the room is Thuney. If they resolve his situation they will basically be pretty close to what they need to get through the season, give or take. But if that's not resolved they still have a long way to go. They don't even really have enough space at the moment to contend with the change over from rule of 51 to a 53 man roster in September, let alone tacking on practice squad salaries and having the reserves they need to make the various moves teams need to make in season. They still probably need another $4 to $5 million conservatively and I'm not sure there are enough candidates to do little moves like Chung and Burkhead to get them there.
Pretty much. They -needed- to make these moves before Newton's signing anyway, though, and Newton will end up having relatively little impact on this year's cap, so I don't think Newton's signing would 'force them to cost upward towards 5-6 million'. It essentially cost them about 400K more against the cap before rule of 51 expires, anyway, and after that it'd be maybe a few thousands more.

Thurney's franchise tag problem has been around pre-draft, and was the primary reason, I imagine, the Patriots didn't try and sign Newton earlier. It took until Newton's price fell before they could.

I think you just watch how well the younger OTs do and see which ones step up because I'm almost sure at least one or two of last year's OLmen that cost 2-3 millions are gone.